Help my previous employer asking me to repay my annual bonus

[smooth5185]

Yes...
The message from few friends: if we assume that they paid the bonus "by error" so do they really want to go to a court and show how incompetent they are, how their process failed and also how they treat their employees by asking the employee to repay the bonus a day before leaving once the notice period is completed?

[sundaymorningstaple]

Good Luck. They didn't pay the bonus 'by error' Additional payrolls have to be processed and certain timelines need to be activated in order for "payroll" to be timely. It's even worse if payroll is outsourced as a lot are, or it payroll is done by the parent company that may well be located in a different city or country. There are many variables. You knew up front that you should not be getting the bonus as does all the employees as it was apparently clearly stated as 'paydate' and not 'declaration' date. Those who choose to read it differently will have to pay the price. Sorry, it is what it is. Let us know if you beat it in court. Good news is rare now days so it's good to have uplifting anecdotal evidence for our other readers in the future.

NB: Hopefully, your friends were lawyers.